There's always somebody moaning about aches and pains at dinner parties. Helpful suggestions usually involve giving up sugar and alcohol.

But over the past year, the well-heeled and well-bred are murmuring about quite another solution over the roast beef.

It's the high-society supplement known as Laminine, a proprietary one-a-day tablet, produced by a U.S. company, that costs just under £1 a day and contains the amino acids - or proteins - that the body needs for vital processes such as tissue building and repair.

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Victoria Fisher, 45, from West London, says Laminine made her Crohn's disease symptoms disappear and gave her a new lease of life. Before starting to take it she only slept for around three hours a night

Although medical experts in the UK are unconvinced, loyal fans can't stop raving about it. Take interior designer, Victoria Fisher, 45, who is radiant with good health. Her hair bounces, she has the body and face of a woman a decade younger and the energy of an athlete.

'Two years ago, I was suffering from such painful stomach aches, I could barely eat, slept for about three hours a night and was in constant pain,' she says.

She's convinced that her incredible transformation is attributable to Laminine.

Converts say it alleviates all sorts of problems, from stress and menopause to joint pain. Detractors are unconvinced as to just how (or indeed whether) it works, but point out that if it's as amazing as claimed, doctors across the land would be prescribing it.

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So exactly what is Laminine, and ought we all to be investing?

The key ingredients of the supplement are extracted from nine-day-old fertilised hen eggs. This carefully preserved extract contains 20 of the vital proteins needed by our body, as well as an ingredient called Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF).

This growth protein occurs naturally in the body and is involved in such functions as wound healing. When taken orally it apparently stimulates our body's own stem cells to regenerate and repair.

Added to this heady-sounding mix are both marine and vegetable proteins; meaning that one supplement could well contain all the building blocks for repair that your body needs.

Victoria initially didn't believe Laminine would help her and only began taking it because it was recommended

Although the potential of rejuvenation via chicken embryo was first suggested in 1929 by a Canadian doctor and then reinvestigated 50 years later by a Norwegian expert, Laminine itself has been available only since 2011 through U.S. company, LifePharm, and is sold in the UK via a number different health websites.

So far, so simple, if you can get your head around the fertilised egg thing. But is FGF really feasible as a basic supplement? 'There is a great deal of interest in clinical uses for FGF,' says Dr Richard Grose, a senior lecturer in cell biology, at Barts Cancer Institute, in London.

'Chinese trials have shown excellent results when applied topically for wound healing and an FGF injection has been approved in the States as a means for protecting cancer patients from painful mouth ulcers that occur during chemotherapy treatment.

'My main concern is that we have no evidence that FGF can survive through the hostile environment of the stomach and make it into the bloodstream - so the use of FGF in this context is scientifically unproven.'

Nonetheless, testimonials for the supplement have been quite extraordinary from the well-educated women who swear by it.

Victoria lives in Chelsea, West London. She says by the time she came across Laminine she was desperate.

'But I didn't believe Laminine would help me. It was recommended by a friend two years ago, and to be honest, I only gave it a go out of basic politeness. I'd had painful stomach problems for more than a decade because of Crohn's disease, which meant I could barely eat a thing.

After a year of feeling perfectly well, Victoria stopped taking Laminine. 'Within two weeks the itching, night sweats and stomach aches started again. I went back on it and haven't looked back.'

'I was frequently taking steroids and itching so badly I carried anti-histamines everywhere. I barely slept - I'd go to bed for an hour then wake up. I think I was averaging three hours a night if I was lucky.'

But, after taking a tablet a day for three days, she slept for five hours without waking.

'By day six my constant stomach ache had gone. I started to feel happy again, as though I had my mojo back. The last time I saw my doctor I had no symptoms at all.

'I am able to eat a near normal diet after years of deprivation. Basic pleasures were returned to me.'

After a year of feeling perfectly well, Victoria stopped taking Laminine. 'Within two weeks the itching, night sweats and stomach aches started again. I went back on it and haven't looked back.'

Such stories are abundant. Nicky Phillips, 46, had a skiing accident last year. She took Laminine and says her doctors were astounded by the speed of her healing.

Really? Well, if you trawl the internet, and read as much as you can find about it, as I've done, there are, as with anything, detractors.

But even on threads posted on obscure health forums, the worst comment you are likely to find is that it doesn't work.

Unless LifePharm is dedicating an entire team to policing the internet, it's highly unusual not to see warnings about potential side-effects.

Melly Rees, 51, runs her own business and lives in West London with her husband. She had had a frozen shoulder which she believed was cured by Laminine - although her doctors were sceptical about its effect

Of course, the other argument is that it's the Emperor's New Clothes of the supplement world and the biggest placebo effect ever seen. Whatever your thoughts about the efficacy or mechanism of Laminine, here's a definite rub.

It's certainly not cheap - costing £78.50 for a three-month supply. Committing to it is going to be more than £300 a year. Clearly, this is one reason why it's possibly not for everybody. It's an investment, even if it's one fans say is well worth making.

Melly Rees, 51, runs her own business and lives in West London with her husband. She had had a frozen shoulder - pain and stiffness caused when the tissue surrounding the shoulder joint becomes inflamed - for 12 years.

She had also suffered from serious menopausal side-effects for two years. 'Not only was I having 20 hot flushes a day and terrible night sweats, but I was facing surgery on my agonisingly painful frozen shoulder.

HEALTHY TURNOVER

The UK market for dietary supplements and vitamins is worth around £385 million

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'Moving my arm was like having a dagger plunged into it. I'd tried everything: painkillers, physiotherapy, even steroid injections.'

Like Victoria, she took Laminine because a friend suggested it might help. 'I bought some and then put it in a cupboard for six months,' she confesses. 'Then we had a girls' night and my friend asked why I still couldn't move my arm. I had to admit I hadn't even bothered [taking the Laminine] and then felt guilted into giving it a go.'

Melly says it took two months to feel the benefits. 'They were quite extraordinary.' She stands up and rotates her arm easily and comfortably.

What did the doctors say? 'Well, the shoulder specialist sort of sucked in his breath, but he couldn't deny that my shoulder was better, and my physiotherapist was staggered.' Also, her menopausal symptoms are almost completely gone.

'Women have mentioned this supplement a few times,' says consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician Tony Boret at Spire Bushey Hospital in North London. 'In the case of the menopause - which is effectively the lack of oestrogen - I just can't see how this would mimic it,' he says.

'We all know the power of the placebo effect. I'd put improvements down to this if anything.'

So, if it has any benefits, doesn't that mean it's a medicine? Fans say the ingredients are basically food extracts. It is egg, and a couple of added natural proteins. (If you're considering that the rumoured benefits would be gained from simply eating a boiled egg first thing, think about the fertilised element.)

Although claims and hyperbole on various websites often seem hugely exaggerated (not to mention impossible in some cases), the packaging clearly states Laminine is not approved by the U.S. Food And Drug Administration, and there are other carefully worded disclaimers.

If Laminine is that great, why haven't we heard about it before? Well, for a start, it's not sold in shops, but online.

Second, unless you're moving in certain social circles here in the United Kingdom, chances are you haven't yet been offered it or had it explained to you. Laminine's popularity is principally down to word-of-mouth.

Camilla May, 45, who sells it through her website, Balance9.co.uk, to a client list that reads like Who's Who and includes two duchesses and four titled ladies, came across it in 2013 and found that her stress, sleep patterns and mood were hugely improved.

'I wouldn't recommend something to my friends if I didn't completely believe in it,' she says. 'I think that the results speak for themselves.'

Experts in the UK are unwilling to endorse the product. It is too unknown and, many of them feel, unproven. 'There are endorsements and testimonies, but no proper controlled clinical trials,' says Mr Boret.

'They have don't explain how it will work either physiologically or biochemically.'

Dr David Jack, an aesthetic expert on Harley Street, agrees. 'I have several patients who are taking it and are very pleased with the results.

'However, like most doctors from any medical discipline, I believe that it needs much firmer clinical proof.'